Psychedellics as augmentation, or medicine.

I used to do psychedellics and smoke weed alot like 3-6 years ago. But as of now I've not done any of them, and actually find myself not even having much interest.

I was thinking about this and realized that my draw to psychedellics and weed were to use them to heal myself. I had many fucked up aspects of personality, I was pretty borderline autistic in alot of ways, there was alot in my brain that needed to be healed and reprogrammed. And I sort of intuitively got drawn to weed and psychedellics and with them I sorted out my brain, myself and generally everything. Now I feel like I got my brain very well put together and I much better grip on this body. Generally I feel healed. And now, my draw to psychedellics is not so much there anymore...

This made me start to think, is the big allure to psychedellics in most people, is it their intuition manifesting as a means to heal themselves? As in, are psychedellics only medicine, and should they only be used as such?

Do you feel like you are going to psychedellics to heal something about yourself? Do you feel like once you have healed whatever aspect you seek to do so, would you begin to lose interest in psychedellics?

Now the other component of this is, psychedellics as augmentation. Psychedellics as medicine operate on the dynamic of, you go to them, get healed, then leave them. But psychedellics as augmentation operates more on the dynamic of, you continually use psychedellics to entail you to do things that previously you couldn't have. This is sort of where my thinking is starting to rest. Not that I've lost interest in psychedellics to heal myself, I'm wondering about delving into them in an attempt to figure out how to augment myself. Give myself better visual acuity and creativity to become a better artist. Better tune myself to music to play piano better. Use them to aid in coming up with new thoughts whatever....

Do any of you use psychedellics in this way? How do you find it helps to augment you?

 

i think psychedelics dont cure you. they just open you up so you can see and cure yourself. that is a form of augmentation.i believe that is what psychedelics do. augment you. if you are looking to amplify your vision and hearing low dose mushrooms can do wonders.

 

my initial attraction to psychedelics was just curiosity and visuals. but it came with a whole lot more, they helped me mature, i learned a lot about myself, i dropped a lot of ignorance, re-created the format of my mind, and that was my healing. but now i have a mild case of hppd, i don't know why, i don't want it, but maybe it means that it's time to drop the psyches as well

 

When I occasionally partake in 2C-I (my psychedelic of choice I suppose) I enter the experience with the mindset of going into a psychotherapy setting.I have Schizoaffective Bipolar Disorder, so there is a great deal of 'healing' that the psychedelic experience can facilitate.

 

I think Psychedelics sort of have give and take lasting effects, so i'm not sure I'd consider it augmentation really. For instance, I feel they have had a lasting effect of speeding up the processing of my mind and open to novel ideas, but psychedelics also have made me become somewhat closed off socially.

They do help with playing music but it's usually something that needs to be reinforced in a sober mind state to stick.

Aside from planning physical things like planning to play the guitar, dance or something like that while on a psychedelic, I rarely ever go into an experience with the intention of augmentation. I find if there is augmentation that occurs it is more of a byproduct of the psychedelic experience rather than a specific intent.

 

you probably just need to find the right group of people

psychedellics made me more closed off for a number of years until I wandered myself into new crowds of people that were simply more intelligent than prior groups of people I hung around with

 

there have definitely been times where i took a psychedelic at home and kinda just saw what would happen, but when i take one while camping, or at a festival or concert, etc. it always "augments" the experience with awesomeness. even at home though, it augments simple things like music, and maybe videogames and movies. all that jives with what u just said, but for me, i guess augmenting my camping trip for example, is one of my intents.

i agree that my interest in psychedelics leaves me feeling a bit socially closed off. but not terribly so. it's mostly all due to the illegality. in spite of that i've been able to talk with co-workers about tripping, and one girl that works in my lab told me how she got some psychedelic mushrooms for the next time she gets a migraine! (aside)

OP, i never took psychedelics to "heal" myself. they might have done some healing behind the scenes, but they might have also done a little harm. fucking with my serotonin levels may have given me digestive issues, anger issues or poor circulation...

i think tripping with a fresh perspective (several years between trips) is an interesting concept. like not tripping for a decade or more, and then coming back to it. maybe one day i'll see what it's like 1st hand - but i know some regulars around here already do.
let's see if they chime in...

look here's one now....

 

Psychedelics use your life experiences and relationships as content. So there is always something to be gleaned from the psychedelic experience.
No matter how old you are or how many years have passed, it's always familiar territory, but the focus and lessons learned will and do change and mature just as the person does. :sunny:

I always chuckle whenever I read somebody post that they feel they have learned all they can from psychedelics.
There is always more to learn.

 

true, regardless of psychedelics.

 

My second experience with psychedelics was by far the most profound. The first felt like it was priming me for the second, which was a trip from which I never came down.

My subsequent trips have been fun, interesting, but not life altering in the same way as that second trip.

I think the idea of waiting a few years between trips is promising, but psychedelics are too much fun to make that a plausible option (at least right now)

It feels like on that 2nd trip I understood a great deal about the world that I don't need to re-understand, limiting the potential of future trips.

Have others had this experience?

-tim

 

Yes, to an extent. As someone that had several experiences in my teens then many years off, revisiting psychedelic voyages didn't quite have the complete and total profundity of the first couple. But then again as NG put it, with 25+ yrs more experience there is more content to draw from, hence, new perspectives. Some of the elemental constants that stuck with me however were and are still there. But I don't mind "reunderstanding" them.

 

I think it's normal, because you don't need to learn the same thing twice.

 

For me, psychedelics were initially interesting because I wanted to "trip balls man".
But after exploration and research and maturing, I feel like I really understand the spirit of psychonautics, and I generally use entheogens to better myself (not necessarily to heal, just improve upon myself).

I don't think that psychedelics could ever lose their appeal to me; there is always more to learn and build upon and make greater.
Plus, tripping balls is fun man.

 

i've really come to a place where i will most likely never trip again.

i feel like using psychedelics for healing or augmentation is just a replacement for god. because in many ways god and love seem so distant to so many people they use psychedelics in place of those things -- as a replacement for god. but really all that will do is bring a person farther away from the truth since they are relying on something that does not hold any actual weight -- a temporary experience based in psychedelic and spiritual realms that are outside the boundaries of normal human perception.

however that is not to say, that in some cases spiritual healing can happen -- more that psychedelics shouldn't be relied on like that.

it kind of gets into the area that a person could have a genuine healing experience, or augmenting experience. or they could have an experience that they think is healing or augmenting but actually is working in the opposite way.

 

Psychedelics aren't any sort of god, except in the sense that ALL is god.
However, psychedelics are a valuable tool in appreciating and understanding more of Existence. This leads to an awe and reverence, as well as a positive drive for creativity and contribution and even compassion.
The psychedelic experience holds tons of weight! Normal human perception is an oxymoron. Every human experience is different, and each model of perception is shaped by the individual's self and associations and psyche.
Not only that, but human perception is limited to the physical and thought realities; this is NOT the totality of Existence.

Psychedelics are a tool, not some sort of magic cure.

Self-Determination.

 

how much of existence do we need to understand? do we really need to understand existence transcendant when we can't even understand existence immanent? if there were no wars and all of humanity was at peace with one another and had achieved perfect unity then maybe that would be a good time to understand existence transcendant -- but until then existence immanent is what is going to get us there.

we don't need to understand more of existence when we don't even understand the little part that is given to us.

 

My initial attraction to psychedellics was that of a curious 15 year old girl. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

I stopped using all drugs and alcohol for 2 years. I didnt even drink coffee or chew gum. I wanted to know who I was without any substance use. So, for two years I faced myself and every social situation soberly. Now, after two years, I feel ready to integrate drug use back into my life (but not alcohol to the point of drunkeness).

Now that I am nearly twice that age, I realize that psychedellics are medication. Just like all medicines can be abused, I once abused psychedellics.

Now, I take them as a healing process or part of a shamanic ritual. Sometimes healing comes in the form of excess laughter, sometimes it comes as a hard lesson. Othertimes it helps me to deepen bonds with others.

I think that whether or not you feel that you are in need of healing, you should always consider psychedellic drugs as medications for the soul. As a tool for cleansing, deepening and expanding ones soul. And always keep a profound respect the power of psychedellics.

 

^^^i try to keep all that in mind, but also not take psychedelics TOO seriously

i like you're sig quote

 

Desos, how else can the betterment of mankind be achieved but through understanding of Existence?? This knowledge grants everything necessary for positivity.

Additionally, the challenge of understanding the countless Thought Realities of individuals is infinitely more difficult that understanding Existence, and could never happen legitimately.

Utopia is not natural, and the infinite variances of human character will never allow complete peace and unity.

Existence is comprised of ALL experience; a strictly positive Existence is paradoxical in premise.

 

I didn't start out to be healed, but I surely was, late at night, lying on a mattress in an old (and very cool) apartment ... having the healing vision I wasn't expecting.

In a sense I took LSD because I couldn't not take it - and I wanted to find out what it was really like. After a few years I fell in with some psychedelic wanderers who got me even higher. Then I stopped for a long time, living in the straight world, and now, getting high again. But now I'm more conservative, tripping every few months.

At this point in life it's partly vision quest - and I keep having similar visions, all about love and a lot about family and community. Some reminiscing, thinking about how life has evolved, decisions made, the beauty of life. Here are a few lines from a recent (non-drug) journey - 6 days in the wilderness:

When I started I was thinking in terms of a vision quest. The vision was of (my wife), seeing her true essence – not just the woman I love and her true nature, but her eternal self. I’ve never seen that before.

The next morning I'm crying in the morning light. My beloved wife.

Mostly I've been taking 2-CE and 4-AcO-DMT, also a little MDMA. I want to see things as they are, as they can be. And I want to dance ecstatically - I mean, good grief, how could one not want to dance in joy and beauty!?